A trip to Costa Rica and a Colorado couple’s dream of owning land and saving beautiful land from from deforestation has resulted in something absolutely incredible.

In 2006, Matt Hogan went on a surfing trip in Costa Rica with some friend. He would later call his wife Erica to discuss buying a getaway home. The two then met up on the country’s Southern Zone and began looking for a place, maybe a fixer-upper surf shack type of place where they could simply relax and escape Colorado’s ‘mud-season.’

In their search they came cross a 100-acre section of wild rainforest that was being sold as a potential harvesting site. Noticing the beauty and especially the trees of the area, the Hogans decided to do something completely different and save the land for deforestation.

In the years since finding and purchasing the land, which now includes an additional 500 acres, the Hogans have transformed beautiful trees into stunning tree houses that make up a community called Finca Bellavista, where zip lines connect neighbors, backyards provide residents with food, and monkeys, frogs, and countless birds are guests.